Associat1.0n
- Nov 27, 2015
- 5 min read
A production in celebration of 10SQUARE @ Orchard Central's 1st anniversary - ASSOCIAT1.0N.
Venue: 10sq@Orchard Central Auditorium
Date: 27th - 28th November 2015
Year of production: 2015
Synopsis;
Home can be a place of shelter, or simply where one finds acceptance and understanding. The idea of leaving that place you call home can be exciting, fearful, difficult, liberating and of course, all of the above. Ever think about what it means to leave home? If you have ever left home for a significant time, how did you feel? What do our youth think about when they leave home? Do such feelings change across the years or generations? It's a collection of stories by our youth who have found a home in 10SQUARE, told through Music, Dance, Drama and Visual Arts. It might even make you think of home.
Review of ASSOCIAT1.0N By Joshua Fan Zhan Wei
Last Friday, I had the immense pleasure of attending Associat1.0n, a play commemorating 10squared’s first anniversary celebration at Orchard Central. The first impression when walking in was disorientation - the dimly lit waiting area, with its black-sheeted walls, made no attempt to convey what one might assume was a joyous occasion (apart from a rather incongruous Christmas tree). This was furthered by what, on closer examination, were rolls of mahjong paper with red stamps that evoked a construction site. The blackbox theatre that seated only 30 individuals facing a monochrome stage provided a startling, perhaps even slightly unwelcome, intimacy that foreshadowed a most poignant evening.
The stage set, a brilliantly white background on which numerous windows had been affixed, recalled a blank canvas, flanked with mysterious boxes and ranks of white costumes. The balance of function and form in the white boxes adorning the wings was quite adroit, symbolising the snapshots that the actors had assembled and would present for us, according to their own interpretations - we are only shown what they take out, not what it actually contains. This tied the various narrative threads of the overall performance together, providing a common and visible touchstone.
Of course, the unique blend of postmodernism that Director Sugiman fashioned onto the celebration meant that it did not exactly follow the traditional dramatic narrative - more properly, it began when the audience were treated to an energetic music at the waiting area by Rhythmix. After which, the audience was ushered into the theatre. Almost immediately, the fourth wall was broken (if one could even be said to have existed within such a cosy setting) with the actors simultaneously assuming dual roles by addressing the audience and themselves in character. The delineation of character and actor was never explicitly established, either, providing a vivid contrast to conventional performances - if an actor’s character is himself, is he actually acting? In any case, the cast embraced the audience in a passionate welcome.
The performance was largely divided in 4 scenes, with each theatre segment generally divided from the other by a dance performance that summarised the preceding theme. After another dance, this time by Existence, the first theatre segment (Want to Belong) began. A bold spin on the art community’s pet topic of the Singaporean identity, it gave us an through the eyes of a first-generation Singaporean, played by Gerrah Lei Montano Pamplona as herself. Chronicling her journey through our education system, she explores her identity and her right to the pink IC, expressing herself in English and Tagalog. The bilingual presentation serves as a constant reminder of her own identity, reinforced by the pride expressed in her own name. Her budding romance with a Malay boy, signifying her own attempt to integrate with the pre-existing society ( a personification of the island’s original inhabitants) is cut short by social stigma. The use of soliloquies by was a valiant attempt at reconciling the general social trend towards xenophobia by presenting what we might have viewed as a faceless tide as an individual with a personality, hope and dreams, frustrated by the exclusion, whether inherent or otherwise, of the community. For an audience accustomed to the cultural narrative of the four races and cultures, Pamplona’s explicit desire to retain what many would call a foreign identity might seem arrogant. Further alienation of the audience through the vicious tirade delivered in Sugiman’s signature style of instinctive shock, makes one question one’s own biases towards the elusive Singaporean identity and the perceived “Other”.
The second piece, Fix Me, was a brilliant one. Each theatre scene is worth noting, but the second piece had a particular quality that deserves special mention. The multiple layers of meaning and symbolism in it, coupled with the near ascetic economy with words used, came together coherently to deliver a message of agony and disenchantment. In it, Su Paing Tun expresses the wrenching struggle with depression through a melding of evocative dance moves with fluid/jerking motions that aptly conveys the swells of emotion that a person with depression faces. The minute details of costume that suggested bandages to heal or bindings to restrain, and the clothes on hangers that suggested costumes and facades and the disposability of mass-manufactured personalities and people, provided the unsaid words of aching pain. The isolation from others was furthered by the absence of all other actors, with Su alone on stage, and trite words of comfort being played. Even the background and colour scheme used was carefully calibrated - everything presented was completely white in this scene, with dual connotations of purity and sterility.
The ambiguous ending, in which Su was embraced/suffocated by a mass of people wearing white, struck the exact tones of hope and despair - is she being healed and welcomed back into society, or is her individualism and identity completely overwhelmed by society’s inertia? The ambiguity of it all really highlighted how such mental problems do not have a cut and dried solution, as foreign as it seems to our Singaporean mindset of speed and efficiency.
After another dance by Existence, the third scene, Another Chance at Redemption, using flashback and narration by Muazzam transmits the sorrow at the lost of a loved one, handled with tender pathos. At this juncture, the emotions of each of the scenes began to bleed into one another, reaching a crescendo in the death of Zam’s grandmother, and the tangible feeling of loss that permeated the theatre. Most of the audience, myself included, were openly crying at the heartrending sight.
The final scene was presented as a tribute to a friend who had died. The disjointment of the video projected on the background and the music that played half a second after created an eerie, haunting effect that profoundly captured the finality of death from the perspective of those still living.
Director Sugiman has woven a most emotive performance - if the stage is his canvas, then the cast and crew are his brushes and their emotion his paint. I would highly recommend this and the rest of his shows, given the artistic flair that shines through.
Written by Joshua Fan Joshuazwfan@gmail.com
Bio: An amateur drama and Literature student, Joshua enjoys chalk carving and looking for fanart on Tumblr. His favourite ships include Prucan, Blackice and oncest. Having owned 8 hamsters, he looks forward to finally getting a cat, which he intends to name Dog.
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